The Tendency of Escapism in Bengali Literature: Exploration of Jibanananda Das’ Poetry

Abstract

This study paper aims to examine the profound sensation of alienation and escapism  experienced by the renowned Bengali poet, Jibanananda Das, with a concentrated analysis of his poems. Das is one of the most significant and widely read Bengali poets following Rabindranath Tagore and Kazi Nazrul Islam. His poetry profoundly embodies his insightful understanding of life and the universe, allowing him to establish a novel poetic realm. It is marked by desolation, deprivation, unfathomable grief, depression, estrangement, and even reconciliation. His poetic oeuvre has been so profoundly influenced that certain poems find solace in history, imagination, and the subconscious, while the majority articulate themes of despondency, unhappiness, alienation, discontent, and even a desire for death, thereby introducing a novel dimension to modernist poetry in Bengal. Das is regarded as "the last romantic, the first modern" among his contemporaneous poets; yet, his poetry is distinctly characterized by its innovation, originality, and multi-layered emotional resonance.